[357]

You can get a good 1911 for that price range. I would recommend you make sure you have dovetail front and rear sights as that is the most common item people like to change, other than grips of course. If you do not get dovetail sights, you'll have to machine the slide to replace the sights (not cheap). If you do get dovetail sights, you can change the sights yourself with a simple allen wrench.

Lowered and flared ejection port, external extractor, beavertail grip safety, skelotonized trigger/hammer, front serrations on the slide, chambered round indicator, a Swartz firing-pin block (deactivated by the grip safety rather than by the trigger like in the 80s series Colts), extended mag-release and extended slide-release are other very commonly sought after "upgrades" you don't get on many of the entry-level 1911s. Some are drop-in replacements you can make after the fact, but many of these require machining the frame or slide so they are something you might want to get the first go-round.

Start looking into manufacterer's tolerances and you also begin to see glaring differences in the brands. I did a ton of research before buying my 1911. I narrowed it down to two brands and I am thrilled with my purchase 8+ years later.

That said, I was not in the market for a handmade 1911. They can exceed the tight tolerances of a well CNC machined pistol, but you will pay for it. Also, many of the manufacterers of 1911s today were not available in 2002. S&W being one of the bigger ones.

I got down to either a Springfield or a Kimber. Still similar today, Springfield offers an entry model called the "Mil-Spec" that has some of the features I wanted (listed above) but not all. In fact it lacks some of the ones that require machining to add later. You could get all of those features if you stepped up to a Springfield "Loaded" model, but it was a $200-$300 jump. Kimber's base model called the "Custom" has all of the features listed above and it is usually about $100-$200 more than the Springfield "Mil-Spec". Kimber also runs a little tighter tolerances than Springfield, and they machine their slide and frame out of a single forging. Those two are then serialized so they remain together until final assembly. They are the only 1911 manufacturer I am aware of that does that. Both are great pistols that will last a lifetime, but I'm happy with my decision.